A London immigration firm has lost a judicial review action against the Legal Services Commission after the firm missed a deadline to apply for a new legal aid contract. The High Court ruled that the LSC was not obliged to write to the firm directly to notify it of the bid deadline.

Azam & Co launched a judicial review claiming that its failure to submit a tender for an immigration contract was due to the fact that the LSC did not communicate the deadline directly to the firm. It also argued that the LSC’s refusal to allow an application submitted out of time was disproportionate given the serious commercial damage likely to be caused to the firm, which does mainly publicly funded immigration work.

The LSC publicised the tender’s closing date on its website and through an advertisement in the Gazette, but not in the letter sent out to contract holders notifying them of the bid round. It claimed that to do so would be a breach of its duty of equal treatment, because it would favour existing suppliers over new entrants.

The judge rejected that argument, but concluded that the LSC’s failure to communicate the deadline directly gave rise to no actionable breach of duty.

The judge also rejected Azam & Co’s argument that the LSC’s behaviour in informing providers directly about the bid deadline for the general civil contract gave rise to a legitimate expectation that it would do so in ­relation to a separate tender exercise.

Shafiul Azam, sole principal at Azam & Co, said he would appeal the decision.